Bulldogs motivated for another shot at Alabama
ATHENS, Ga. — With that humbling loss to No. 2 Alabama behind them, the fifthranked Georgia Bulldogs now turn their attention to Kentucky. But for the Bulldogs, it’s not really about Kentucky.
It’s still about Alabama. After losing 41-24 in Tuscaloosa, Georgia wants another shot at the Crimson Tide. And the Bulldogs will get that opportunity if they can win out.
The first of those six games comes Saturday in Lexington against the Wildcats 2-3. The Bulldogs (3-1) were posted as two-touchdown favorites on Monday.
But what happens after Saturday’s noon kickoff (SEC Network) will have more to do with shoring up weak spots Alabama exposed than it will Georgia doing what it has to do to score a victory over Kentucky.
“That’s in the back of our mind,” sophomore safety Lewis Cine said of the Alabama loss. “That’s why we want to play them again. We want to get to that place (Atlanta) and play them again. It’s a very bitter taste, a very bitter taste. But from here on out we’re gonna play as hard as we can. We’re going to play every team as hard as we can.”
Georgia will be favored in all of its remaining games. The biggest hump comes a week from Saturday when it faces No. 10 Florida (21) in Jacksonville. Other
wise, more double-digit lines await with matchups against Missouri, Mississippi State, South Carolina and Vanderbilt down the stretch.
The Bulldogs have won the last three SEC East championships. This iwill be the third straight year they’ll have overcome a midseason loss to get there.
“We’re definitely confident,” running back Zamir White said of Georgia’s ability to win out. “But we know that we’ve got to work hard and come back with that lockedin mindset, ready to go and be ready for war.”
First things first, and that’s Kentucky. The Wildcats are a difficult team to figure out. They have looked alternately dominant and overmatched. Two weeks ago they scored a decisive 34-7 victory over Tennessee, their first in Knoxville in 36 years. Then they turned around and fell to meekly to Missouri this past Saturday, generating only
145 yards of offense to the Tigers’ 421.
By transitive law, Georgia should dominate Kentucky. Of course, Kirby Smart doesn’t do transitive law. The Bulldogs’ fifth-year coach had a decidedly serious, no-nonsense tone when discussing this Saturday’s matchup.
“I will tell you this, Kentucky is as physical a front that we have played,” Smart said Monday. “It showed last year. They were really physical up front. They always have been. They build their defense around that. They do a great job across the offensive and defensive lines. That’s what makes them tough to play.”
Indeed, but there is much to favor about the Bulldogs: Georgia is coming off an open date while Kentucky found itself in a slugfest; The team’s focus of the last eight days has been on shoring those up areas of weakness exposed by Alabama.